We report on the label-free real-time optical monitoring of DNA hybridization upon exposure to a flow of complementary DNA at different concentrations. The biosensor is composed of a silicon nitride integrated unbalanced Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI), with an integrated arrayed waveguide grating as a spectral filter. This MZI has been shown to have both sufficient multiplexing capability and limit of detection on the order of 10 − 6 RIU. Probe DNA, consisting of a 36-mer fragment is covalently immobilized on the silicon nitride integrated biosensor. The wavelength shift is monitored upon complementary DNA targets being flown over the sensor. Concentrations of 1 pM can be easily detected. Also, an alternative route to modify the sensor surface with carboxylic groups using the photochemical reaction of fatty acids is proposed and preliminary XPS results are presented. Moreover, preliminary results for DNA obtained from a rolling circle amplification (RCA-DNA) process and spiked in a realistic amplification buffer are presented.
The effect of the discrete values of the refractive index of the surrounding medium on the spectral behavior of the whispering-gallery modes (WGMs) in the elastic scattering spectra of high-refractive-index silica microspheres submerged in fluids, such as air, water, and glycerol, is studied. The elastic scattering spectral measurements, as well as the spectral autocorrelation analysis of these elastic scattering spectra show that the spectral-mode spacing, the spectral-mode density, and the spectral-mode definition of the WGMs decrease as the refractive index of the surrounding fluid increases. We believe that this work opens up the way for optofluidic applications of high-refractive-index silica microsphere-based guided wave optics.
A microcavity-based deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) optical biosensor is demonstrated for the first time using synthetic sapphire for the optical cavity. Transmitted and elastic scattering intensity at 1510 nm are analyzed from a sapphire microsphere (radius 500 μm, refractive index 1.77) on an optical fiber half coupler. The 0.43 nm angular mode spacing of the resonances correlates well with the optical size of the sapphire sphere. Probe DNA consisting of a 36-mer fragment was covalently immobilized on a sapphire microsphere and hybridized with a 29-mer target DNA. Whispering gallery modes (WGMs) were monitored before the sapphire was functionalized with DNA and after it was functionalized with single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). The shift in WGMs from the surface modification with DNA was measured and correlated well with the estimated thickness of the add-on DNA layer. It is shown that ssDNA is more uniformly oriented on the sapphire surface than dsDNA. In addition, it is shown that functionalization of the sapphire spherical surface with DNA does not affect the quality factor (Q≈104) of the sapphire microspheres. The use of sapphire is especially interesting because this material is chemically resilient, biocompatible, and widely used for medical implants.
We present an integrated optical narrowband electrically tunable filter based on the whispering gallery modes of sapphire
microspheres and double ion-exchanged channel BK7 glass waveguides. Tuning is provided by a liquid crystal infiltrated
between the spheres and the glass substrate. By suitably choosing the radii of the spheres and of the circular apertures,
upon which the spheres are positioned, arrays of different filters can be realized on the same substrate with a low cost
industrial process. We evaluate the performance in terms of quality factor, mode spacing, and tuning range by comparing
the numerical results obtained by the numerical finite element modeling approach and with the analytical approach of the
Generalized Lorenz-Mie Theory for various design parameters. By reorienting the LC in an external electrical field, we
demonstrate the tuning of the spectral response of the sapphire microsphere based filter. We find that the value of the
mode spacing remains nearly unchanged for the different values of the applied electric field. An increase of the applied
electric field strength, changes the refractive index of the liquid crystal, so that for a fixed geometry the mode spacing remains unchanged.
Elastic scattering intensity calculations at 90° and 0° for the transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarized light were performed at 1200nm for a 50 μm radius and 3.5 refractive index silicon microsphere. The mode spacing between morphology dependent resonances was found to be 1.76 nm. The linewidth of the morphology dependent resonances was observed to be 0.02 nm, which leads to a quality factor on the order of 104.
A silicon microsphere coupled to a silica optical fiber half coupler is excited using a diode laser operating at 1.55 μm. The transmitted and the 90o elastically scattered light signals are modulated with an electrical square wave applied to the silicon microsphere.
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